


Sight

by myomichan



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: A bit of Political Intrigue, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Asexual Eren, Brief Underage Drinking, Comrades, Dark Magic, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Hella gay Ymir, Loss of Powers, M/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Magical Accidents, Multi, Romance, Sorcerers, Sorceresses, Swords & Sorcery, Underage Drinking, War, White Magic, but mostly just magic and springles, minor ships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-07 22:48:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1916937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myomichan/pseuds/myomichan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Living in Dauper Village her whole life, on the brinks of society, has made Sasha Braus long for the inner walls of Trost. And Trost Castle's Academy for Sorcery is her ticket to civilization and mastery of her magic. But Sasha's a special type of sorcerer: she's a Seer, and she can see magic the way most others can't. Unbeknownst to her trainees class, a civil war is about to break out. She will have to master her Sight and use it to save the Key -- the most powerful sorcerer of all -- before the country rips apart. But is saving the Key the right thing to do? And with foreign invasion on the horizon, an even greater threat looms, one that can spell the end of magic once and for all. ||An Attack on Titan AU||</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Green

            A doughnut in my hand.

            Today was a special day.

            Today was my first day of training.

            I sighed happily as I bit into the doughnut. It was fresh still, and the heat oozing from it only made the first delectable bite that much more delectable. Soft, fried dough, glossy with its sugary glaze coat, gave way gently as my teeth sank into it. I closed my eyes, enjoying the ecstasy my taste buds were delighting in.

            Figures that I'd bump into someone. Hard. Hard enough to rattle me.

            My eyes snapped open as the collision occurred, my eyes following my doughnut as it slid through my fingers and fell with grace and gravity towards the cobbled sidewalk, my mouth quick to follow it with a screech that increased in volume the farther the fried delicacy fell from my hand.

            "MY DOUGHNUT!!!"

            The sound of my despair and horror echoed off the solid buildings surrounding me, traveling down the streets and into the city square ahead of us. The sun had still not risen yet, and the sky was a grey-tinted array of colors. The lampposts lighting the streets glowed bright yellow, the sun's evening replacements in Rose. Most folks here in Trost would be asleep at this time. But not me.

            No, I was mortified and screaming.

            The young man I'd run into scowled, taking a step back as I fell to my knees in agony. My hands shook, reaching for the fallen doughnut but unable to gather the willpower to lift it from its deplorable fallen state.

            "What the hell, shut up!" He said, almost frantically, looking around the deserted pathways nervously. "You'll wake the whole town up, god damn!"

            I ignored him, biting my lower lip to keep it from trembling. The doughnut sat as still as a corpse, a felled soldier, the destroyed result of weeks of careful saving and planning. I had worked hard to hunt the best meat available in the spring season to trade with local farmers for money. The little I had left from traveling from my little hunting town outside the city gates to inner Trost had been spent in a carefully-planned splurge for a doughnut -- a treat I'd never experienced before personally and had only heard of around cozy hearths, like a legend shared around a campfire. Something delicious, something made with rich ingredients and meant as a snack, not as a hard meal for surviving.  This had been my reward for hard work and dedication -- and natural talent.

            And here it was, lying on the cobbled sidewalk, a delicate flower spoiled and trampled to death. Eating off hunting grounds was one thing -- my body was used to the threats of the outside, could stomach whatever disease or sickness I might find. But inside the walls were different diseases, different sicknesses, ones my body was not yet immune to. If I ate this doughnut, I could get sick.

            And one thing I'd learned from Dauper was that you never, ever, EVER got sick if you could avoid it.

            Finally I tore my gaze away from my spoiled breakfast (slash lunch, since I had no more money to spend at all) and met the eyes of the one I'd bumped into.

            Brown met brown.

            "Calm DOWN, holy shit!" He leaned over, offering a hand when it became clear I was unwilling to rise from my spot. I pushed myself up, pointedly ignoring the outstretched hand. A friendly green glow flickered around him. Well, I called it a "glow;" it was more like a silhouette against the sun than a "glow." Still, in this lighting of the early morning, the bright green around him stood out like a red bird in a tree: easy to spot, as long as you knew what to look for.

            If only he had paid attention to where he was going, I wouldn't have lost my breakfast (slash lunch.)

            I took a deep breath and silenced my groans of sadness. No amount of howling would bring back my lost doughnut. I had only gotten one bite, but I tried to look at the bright side: at least I'd gotten a bite in before this bald, oblivious idiot had ruined a good morning.

            "It's quite all right, sir," I replied politely. (No, it wasn't, but in a foreign place, lies get you farther than truths.) "Don't fret over it."

            The boy huffed, the stiffness in his shoulders fading slightly as he took up a more relaxed stance.

            "At least you're not hurt," he said, his tone a bit softer than mine. I remembered suddenly that it was still early morning, and most city-goers were asleep. I nearly pursed my lips, but stopped myself.

            "Yes," I said. There was a moment of quiet before he smiled.

            "I'm Connie. Connie Springer." He let out a soft chuckle. "Nice to meet you. Sorry about the doughnut."

            I allowed a small smile to spread over my lips too.

            "The pleasure is all mine. I'm Sasha Braus."

            He extended his hand again, a green spark (probably unintentionally) trailing across his fingers in a zigzag pattern, and at first I thought when our hands met he meant to kiss mine. My smile became a bit more genuine. So it was true, the stories about the inner city being more fancy and--

            --And he shook it. My smile went back to being adequately polite.

            "Cool." He raised an eyebrow, eyes skimming over my body. My smile fell from polite to strained. "Nice outfit."

            I nearly flushed, but then I took in his own clothing. Jacket, shirt, belt, pants, boots. The crest of two crossed swords sewn on his sleeves.

            An identical match to mine, minus the added green cloak that fell to my calves.

            I grinned, finally deciding that maybe this fellow could be forgiven for his actions.

            "Yours, too."

            His grin matched mine.

            "So you're a trainee, too, huh?" he asked. I nodded enthusiastically, adjusting the bow and satchel of arrows tossed over my right shoulder. "Sweet. Are you a new recruit, or are you one of the upper divisions?"

            "I'm new," I told him. "And you?"

            "Same." His brown eyes practically sparkled, the vibrant green of his aura temporarily outlining his eyes in his excitement. Behind him, the sky was starting to change colors, gold seeping into the grays and blues and peeking over the eastern gate. "What a coincidence, huh?"

            "Yes," I repeated. "Funny, that. Truly an odd occurrence."

            I fell into step beside him, walking towards the castle entrance. One last glance was thrown towards my fallen breakfast slash lunch.

            Even though I had met a fellow trainee because of it, it still felt like a bad omen.

            But I shook the thought off.

            Because, really, what could possibly go wrong within Rose's four glorious gates?

 

* * *

 

            Trost Castle was located near Rose's Eastern Gate. It was one of the first castle's to finish contruction, and had stood for over eighty years, guarding the nobles inside it. The castle gates shone like gold, radiant as the sun, laced with glamour magic. My fingers tingled as we approached it. The magic surrounding the castle was so powerful it was practically tangible; even just passing nearby the castle gates made me feel like my fingers were sliding across intricate patterns of tightly-woven sorcery. I couldn't see it, even though I felt it; the glamour around it was too intricate. If I tried to squint to see it better, the glamour blurred, obscuring my sight. Still, I could feel the power. Each step closer made the sensation stronger, until we stood before the gates and I felt that every inch of exposed skin was rubbing against a thread of magic.

            "Do you feel that?" Connie asked from beside me, his voice awed.

            "Indeed." I looked through the bars of the gate to the stone castle beyond. Sina's castle was tall, taller than Maria's had been, and supposedly more fortified. But Trost Castle, whose tallest tower could not even peek over the city's gates, was still regarded as the most structurally sound, with its reasonable stone walls as opposed to Sina's fortified crystals. Standing where I did, the castle certainly looked sturdy, built seamlessly and with no chips or cracks in sight. I had no idea if it was caused by glamour or if the walls were, in fact, impenetrable. Even if it were just the glamour, squinting couldn't help me differentiate truth from lie. But I thought it was probably a combination.

            After all, back in Dauper I'd learned to repair my broken arrows with my own magic. Maybe the walls here had the same thing happening to them, only with more powerful spells and longer-lasting magic. If even a little country girl like me could use repair magic, then of course trained mages and sorcerers could as well.

            Connie inhaled slowly. I straightened my back, hand tightening around my quiver's strap.

            "Well, let's go on in," he said. He reached for the gate.

            It didn't move.

            We looked at each other, both mildly concerned. We were supposed to enter through the front gate, right? That's what the instructions had said, at least. I shrugged at him, words hard to muster beneath the thick strands of magic surrounding us, and he tried again.

            Nothing.

            "Perhaps we are to wait outside?" I proposed. Connie shook his head.

            "No, we were _definitely_ instructed to meet inside..." He pursed his lips, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, re-opened his eyes, and then huffed.

            A small pulse issued from his hand -- green -- and the gate made some clicking noises. It creaked open slowly, glamour still in place, and Connie and I slid inside. Once we had, it closed behind us.

            I felt breathless. The magic was so strong here, I felt like if I even breathed, some of the magic in this place would find its way down my throat. I could hear it, humming along the threads, a small, low-pitched buzzing that was soft but at the same time overwhelming. And now that I was inside and past the gates privacy glamours, I could actually _see_ the threads I had only felt outside. Strings, crossing and weaving intricate patterns, threads so tightly interwoven around the buildings that they looked like tapestries. Above us, the strings draped like fabric, blanketing the sky, protecting the castle from above. The ground was flecked with colors of all sorts, a hundred years' worth of magic seeped into the soil, spells covering the grounds. The magic was so very, very strong here...

            I weakly nodded to Connie. He tilted his head.

            "What's wrong?" he asked. I opened my mouth to speak -- to say something about how much I enjoyed the architecture or some superficial response like that -- but found I didn't have the strength to do so. The magic suddenly pressed down upon me, and I couldn't force my mouth open. I managed to weakly motion around us. He quirked an eyebrow (something I was beginning to recognize he did often) but didn't question it, instead turning his eyes towards a towering stone structure to the side of the castle.

            "I think we're supposed to go there," he said. I followed his gaze and shrugged. He led the way, and I struggled to keep his pace. The magic was so... so...

            I didn't realize the door had shut behind me until the sound echoed loudly in the stone building's entranceway, and my eyes widened. I took a quick breath, finally knocked out of my earlier reverie, and my wide eyes met Connie's concerned ones.

            "Whoa," was all I could manage.

            "Something was wrong," he said, drawing closer but keeping a polite distance. "Why didn't you say something?"

            "I-I couldn't," I replied, hands clasping together tightly. I took a deep breath to steady myself.  "I couldn't say a word."

            The hum of conversation carried down the hall to us. The walls were decorated with a light glamour and paintings, to make it seem more spotless than it probably was. Glamour lights lit the hallway, as golden as the beacons lighting the streets outside.

            Connie frowned.

            "Was it the magic?" he asked. I nodded.

            "It felt like... well..." I struggled to find the right words."... _Heavy_."

            His eyebrows furrowed curiously.

            "Heavy?" he asked. "I didn't get that. I mean, it was _thick_ , but--"

            "New recruits are supposed to be down the hall and to the left in the meeting hall."

            We both turned, startled, to see an older man in a long green robe. He was tall, with strong cheekbones and blonde hair with an undercut. His aura was a strong gold; he was powerful. Unlike Connie's aura, this man's actually seeped out around him, too powerful to be contained to its wielder's skin. It made him seem truly like he was silhouetted against the sun, even though we stood indoors. His clothes clearly marked him as a high-ranking sorcerer, and I nearly shivered as my eyes were drawn to the stone around his neck. Connie and I shared a surprised glance.

            Only the most powerful can wield stones. High in the mountains, of which Dauper was built at the base, magical stones can be excavated using carefully-crafted tools laced with spells. The stones are ethereal. Nobody knows exactly how they become infused with magic, but it's obvious that they're extremely powerful. Even a well-trained and gifted sorcerer or mage can struggle with using one to boost his powers. Only those with a complete mastery over their magic can wield a stone to its fullest ability. Doing so grants them enormous stores of magic, extra ammunition, so to speak. And it boosts the strength of their spells. A sorcerer or mage who wields a stone has an aura different from others. Their powers are too great to swirl only within their body; their magic spreads out around them, like a fog.

            And this man's aura was very, _very_ dense and very, _very_ spread out.

            Our superior's expression was unreadable, but when I tried to meet his eyes after staring at his stone, I realized I couldn't.

            I couldn't see them. I couldn't _read_ them. The fog was obscuring my sight. I glanced back at the stone, whose green, smooth surface flickered under the light of the glamours in the hall. Could it be causing this?

            "Sorry, sir," I said, more to keep us from falling into silence than for any actual apology. I squinted; my aura reached out to try and wipe away what was obscuring my vision, but--

            "We're going!" Before Connie grabbed me and dragged me quickly down the hall, I managed a hasty salute.

            "Why are you in such a hurry?" I asked as soon as we turned the corner. Connie, wide-eyed, turned back to me.

            "What, and you didn't recognize him?"

            I opened my mouth, realized I _hadn't_ recognized him, and closed it again. Connie's eyes went even wider.

            "Sasha, that was the commander of the Survey Legion!" he said vehemently. "Commander Smith!"

            My mouth opened in a small "oh," and I turned to try and peek back around the corner; Connie roughly jerked my shoulders back towards him.

            "Hey, hey, don't do weird things," he told me. I snapped my mouth closed.

            "I... I couldn't see his eyes," I said. I met Connie's brown ones. "It's how I read people. Once I see their eyes and auras, I mean."

            I belatedly realized I maybe probably shouldn't have mentioned anything once Connie's eyes started shining like he'd stumbled across a fairy.

            "Wait, you _see_ auras?" He sounded like a child who'd just been promised doughnuts or some tasty treat. "I knew there were still seers out there, but..." He whistled. "Wow. Cool." He grinned brightly. "So hey, what's my aura look like?" He stretched his arms out.

            "Uh... Green," I said distractedly. "You mean you can't see?"

            He blinked once, twice, then shook his head.

            "No," he replied. "Seers are rare in the city. Ya gotta be in touch with nature to have a seer's Sight."

            I licked my lips. I should have realized not all gifted could see auras when Connie didn't mention anything outside with the threads. Or the glamours around the halls.

            _"Keep safe in there. They'll be on the lookout for strange powers, an' you got 'em. Don't tell anyone everything about yer powers. Keep safe, Sasha."_

I hadn't broken my promise. Not fully. My hand found the strap of my quiver and gripped it tightly. I wouldn't break it fully. I wouldn't tell anyone the full extent. Not Connie, not the teachers, not anyone.

            I'd keep safe.

            "Oh," was all I said. Connie's grin didn't fade, and he didn't seem to pick up on my mood change.

            "Come on, we need to follow his orders," Connie said. "Even thought he didn't _technically_ order us to do anything, but still." Connie dragged me down the hall, the sound of conversation growing louder, and we ambled through the glamoured corridors until finding the meeting hall. He pushed the wooden doors open.

            A tall ceiling greeted us. It reminded me of the cathedral I'd visited while passing through the city, with the way it arched and the wooden beams supporting the roof. The wooden ceiling gave way to sturdy, non-glamoured wooden walls which stood pristinely, holding the structure up well. I was surprised when I couldn't remember the building looking so tall from the outside. But with all the glamour and magic out there, I supposed it was only natural that they hid the true structures appearance. It made me wonder if the castle, too, was glamoured to appear different outside.

            There were already a few students gathered around. I put on my brightest smile when their eyes fell to us.

            "How can people be here before us?" Connie asked loudly. "It's so early!" I realized he was trying to engage them in conversation by being loud, and it worked, because his voice carried thanks to the tall ceiling. A boy with two-toned brown hair stood, grinning in response to Connie's question.

            "Some of us actually live in the city, you know," he said. "Only travelers had to come in today. The rest of us stayed here last night."

            Connie began walking towards him. I followed after a moment of hesitation, my eyes scanning the other students, meeting their eyes and taking in their auras. Most were anxious and nervous, just like mine probably was. A few were quite at ease, though, most notably the boy who'd stood. His aura was golden, like gold pulled from a river, still dirty, a dimmer version of the Commander's. I wondered whether his powers could someday match Commander Smith's, but I dismissed the thought. Even if they could one day, he was still a trainee for now, meaning he was only as strong as the rest of us. A blonde boy with sideburns was sitting beside the two-toned brown-haired boy, and a girl with black pigtails sat across from him. They both had subdued brown auras around them. A healer's aura. I recognized it from the healers who visited Dauper, either on their way up the mountain to collect stones or to visit the sick and elderly in the village. Healers were the most common of sorcerers and mages, as I recalled from my rudimentary knowledge of magic.

            "Name's Jean," said the boy. "Jean Kirschtein." He extended his right hand, which Connie took.

            "Connie Springer."

            Jean grinned.

            "Nice to meet you." His eyes trailed over to meet mine. "And you," he added. I hesitated for a moment (should I curtsy, or bow, or salute?) but then Jean reached out, and my fear melted away. I shook his hand.

            "I am Sasha Braus," I said in as clear a voice as I could. "How do you do?"

            Jean raised an eyebrow.

            "Peachy," he said. "So how far out did you guys travel from?"

            "I'm from Ragako," Connie said.

            I took a deep breath.

            "Dauper."

            Jean's eyes widened, his table companion's expressions mirroring his own.

            "Dauper actually  _exists?"_ asked the blonde boy. I kept from frowning and nodded instead.

            "Indeed."

            "Isn't that a hunting town, though?" asked Jean. His eyes caught on the bows in my quiver. "They say it's a really small town. So you can hunt?"

            I did my best to keep from scrunching my face up. As _if_   I was going to own up to something so un-ladylike as hunting.

            "My family is not involved in such primitive activities," I replied. I tilted my chin up. "Dauper is not merely a 'hunting' village, you know."

            "Isn't it Dauper that excavates magic stones?" asked the black-haired girl. "Oh! Sorry, let me introduce myself." She smiled. "I'm Mina Carolina."

            I nodded in her direction.

            "What a pleasure to meet you. And yes, Dauper helps mine the stones in the mountains."

            _Only in off-seasons, though,_ I added mentally. _No need for them to know that._

            "Still, you must be the only one from Dauper in our year, maybe in all the Academy," Jean said. "So have you guys been traveling together, or...?"

            "Oh, no, we just met up in the square, actually," Connie said. He smiled apologetically at me. "Still sorry about the doughnut."

            I was, too, but I shrugged.

            "No sense in crying over spilled milk, if you'll pardon the rustic phrase."

            "Hey, nothing wrong with rustic," Connie said. "Ragako's about as rustic as it gets."

            We were invited to sit with Jean and his friends, and we accepted the offer. The conversation drifted eventually from Jean's and Thomas's childhood adventures within Trost to what everyone expected training would be like. My mind drifted, and eventually my eyes began roaming the room again. Others had filtered in over time, the tables filling quickly.

            Across the room, three others sat together: a blonde boy, a brunet boy, and a raven-haired girl. They seemed to be in a deep in conversation amongst themselves. The blonde-haired one had a bright red aura, and the girl across from him had a purple aura. The boy beside the blonde made me squint. He flailed his arms a lot. I wondered what they were talking about. It must have been something the brunet was passionate about, because his expression was serious while he spoke. I squinted.

            It looked like he had a blue aura... or was it gray...? I couldn't tell; he sat by a window, and the light beginning to filter in was playing tricks on my eyes. His aura kept switching between the two colors. I squinted harder. Or was...? I turned my gaze away.

            _No,_ I thought _. It's impossible. Nobody has two auras._

My eyes swept back towards his face. He had green eyes.

            _Do they...?_


	2. Purple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasha meets her instructor and roommates. 
> 
> That's basically it. 
> 
> *throws sparkles at you*

            "Sasha, what do you think?"

            "Hmm?" I started, turning back to the others at the table. They looked on expectantly. "Uh, sorry, I missed that bit... What?" I smiled, inwardly cringing. What did it matter? Maybe there _were_ those who had two natural auras. _After all..._ I brushed the thought to the back of my mind as Jean spoke.

            "What Legion are you going to join after training?"

            "Oh." My thoughts flashed to my unexpected meeting with Commander Smith earlier that day. He was the leader of the Survey Legion, a military branch of sorcerers, mages, and warriors dedicated to defending the Kingdom of Jokaku from invasion. As the front line of defense, they were most likely to die first, though those who managed to survive battles became recognized as heroes throughout the land. But we hadn't faced attack for five years, not since Castle Maria was taken by Jinrui and Shiganshina was layed to waste. Since then, the Garrison had guarded the gates from any trouble, and the Military Police handled crime inside the cities. It was peaceful, and most everyone had come to the conclusion that an all-out war had been avoided.

            My mind flashed back to my examiner.

            "Probably the Garrison, or Military Police, if I can manage it," I admitted. The others nodded.

            "Same here," Connie said. "Though I'm not sure if I'll be able to qualify for the MP."

            "You have to be in the top 10 graduates, right?" Jean asked. But apparently he knew the answer to his own question, because he continued. "That shouldn't be _too_ hard." Beside him, Thomas rolled his eyes.

            " _Sure,_ Kirstein," he said sarcastically. "For someone with naturally good control over your powers, it should be a cinch." He rolled his eyes and grinned, sharing an amused glance with Mina. "For the rest of us, it means hard work and actual intelligence."

            "Hey, now," Jean started.

            "Um, excuse me."

            We turned our eyes to see a short young woman with blonde tresses and beautiful blue eyes. A murky golden aura surrounded her, similar to Jean's, but even muddier. I wondered what it could mean, but dismissed the thought quickly, unwilling to turn my mind back to the topic of auras.

            She nervously turned her eyes downward.

            "What is it?" Jean asked. You could hear how eager he was to meet her in the tone of his voice, and he spoke quickly. "Need somewhere to sit?"

            She nodded.

            "You can sit by me!" I said, patting the chair beside me. The girl smiled and nodded.

            "Thank you very much!" she replied. I grinned back at her. She seemed nice. The three boys in our group watched her make her way to her seat before picking the conversation up again.

            "We were just talking about which military factions we'd join," Connie said. "How about you?"

            The blonde girl blinked, then looked down at the table.

            "I'm not sure yet," she said. "I've only given it a bit of thought, so..."

            "That's fine," Jean said. "There's plenty of time while we train, after all." He grinned reassuringly at her, and she reciprocated with a shy smile.

            "That's true," she said. "My name is Christa. Christa Lenz. It's a pleasure to meet you."

            Curiosity got the better of me, and before I really knew what I was saying, I was already speaking.

            "Say, you wouldn't happen to be a noblewoman, would you?"

            She jolted, face surprised and... was that shock?

            "N-No. No, I... Wh-Why would you think...?" She stuttered, trying to form a coherent sentence, and I hastily backtracked.

            "Sorry, my mistake!" I apologized. "I just... Your manner of speech seemed to indicate..."

            "O-Oh..." She smiled half-heartedly. "No, I-I grew up on a farm."

            "Oh." I pursed my lips, resisting the urge to scratch the back of my neck embarrasedly. "No, you're fine, I was just... Yeah." I coughed to try and give myself more time to regain my composure.

            "I'm Connie Springer, nice to meet ya!" Connie declared loudly.

            "I'm Mina Carolina."

            "Thomas. Thomas Wagner."

            "Sasha Braus," I offered.

            "And I'm Jean Kirstein, soon-to-be Military Police officer!"

            Christa smiled.

            "Such confidence!" she giggled. "You must be very strong!"

            Jean's grin was radiant. His aura sparked a bit, the gold flowing from it springing about like lightning. It made me jump in my seat; nobody else noticed.

            "You better believe I am!" He shifted forward in his seat, leaning against the wooden table. "I'm definitely going to be in the top 10, just wait and see!"

            _Calm down, Sasha,_ I thought to myself. _Keep safe. If you jump like that, they'll figure it out._ I inhaled slowly, then exhaled. Nobody else had jumped at the sudden spark, meaning I was the only one who'd seen it. Probably. Or maybe some of them could see, but were used to seeing it...? Either way, I couldn't react like this. Not inside the gates. Weakness in front of my fellow trainees could spell trouble later as competition for ranks got steeper.

            And I didn't want anybody catching a glimpse of my own startled sparks.

            "I believe you," Christa said, nodding. She nodded a lot. Then again, maybe it was just a habit of hers? I shrugged it off. It didn't matter one way or the other, really.

            Our conversation somehow got off-track until we found ourselves discussing random trivia, like the best places to eat in Rose. I was listening intently this time. I wondered if there was a closer doughnut shop than the one on the outskirts of the city by the Northern gate. I meant to ask, but suddenly the hall doors slammed closed, and a booming voice amplified by the high ceiling drew everyone's attention.

            "Good morning, trainees!"

            The voice was older, slightly scratchy, and thoroughly laced with power. Ripples of golden magic bounced around the room, imitating the sound they projected. I flinched as the ripples reached us and slipped through our bodies. The magic was strong, and made me shiver. I wasn't the only one. Others seemed to sense the magic as well, and withdrew by instinct, like cornered animals shielding themselves from harm.

            All eyes fell upon the figure standing in front of the doors. I immediately recognized the flowing green military cape, virtually identical to my own.

            Dressed in the standard khaki uniform of all military factions, our instructor bore no outstanding marks. No stones, no glaring battle scars, no outward signs of strength.

            Why wear such a sign when his aura alone was enough to strike fear in our hearts?

            It was golden. Like the commanders, only this time left unchecked. It was like he was intentionally letting it run rampant, stretching each corner of it, allowing it to swirl and trickle around the room like a slow-moving gas. And it was _blinding_. Not as much as Commander Smith's stone-enhanced aura was, but still enough to make me fight the urge to squint.

            He was _trying_ to intimidate us.

            "And what a sad bunch you are!" Our instructor took slow, confidant steps forward, his aura sliding over those closest to him. The terror in their eyes was obvious, even from here.

            To our right, the green-eyed boy with one aura -- _not_ two -- saluted quickly, a fierce look on his face. Beside him, his two companions also slid into the salute. I followed suit, and quickly everyone in the room fell into the position. The instructor stopped, surveying the room.

            His eyes narrowed on a young man a few tabled in front of us. With deliberately steady steps, he carried himself over to the black-haired boy.

            "You," he said. His voice echoed sharply around the room. "What's your name?"

            "Marco Bott, sir," the boy replied. His back was turned to us, but I could see him trembling. Still, he stood tall. "From Jinae."

            "Where do you hope to be some day?" asked the instructor, almost conversationally. The boy's brown aura crackled nervously.

            "I want to serve the King of Jokaku and bring peace inside the gates," said the boy.

            Our instructor's expression was impossible to read. He leaned forward, close to the boy's face, and whispered something, his aura swirling around him and capturing sound from escaping and echoing to the rest of us. The boy flinched, and then the instructor moved on, walking past our table and heading to the front of the hall. Everyone turned to follow him, bodies moving nearly in sync. There he turned and faced us, eyes seeming to meet all of ours before he finally addressed us all.

            "To serve the King," he said, "Is not why you are here." He looked pointedly to the boy again, and I stole a glance backwards to see him looking down, lips pursed. "You are not here to guard the Gates, or to protect Jokaku and become a hero. You are not _capable_ of doing so.

            "The Academy is not here to help you further your own selfish ambitions. Who you are right now is the same person you will be if you graduate. Your skills may improve, you may learn some fancy words to describe magic, you may become physically and mentally more capable, but _you_ will not change. Your _magic_ will not change.  Your magic reserves are not something that can be built up with training.  Your reserves are not like muscles. They cannot grow or adapt. They are fixed. What you have now is what you had as a baby, what you will have ten years from now, and what you will have until the moment you die. You all were selected among thousands of applicants. Not because of your _skill_ or _talent,_ but because of your _potential_. Individually, not a single one of you is capable of anything. If you want to succeed as an individual, you will fail."

            Here our instructor paused. I bit my lip. What he said about the applicants was true: each and every one of us had applied, like many others across Jokaku, to study at the Academy and to master our magic. The thousands of applications sent in were wheedled down to only about five hundred, and then scouts were sent to visit each of these individuals for a face-to-face examination. After that, the one hundred applicants with the most magic potential (and best exam results) received acceptance letters.

            My very own acceptance letter was tucked away in the front pocket of my jacket. For luck. And as a reminder to be careful. _Keep safe._

"Let this be a lesson to you all. When someone asks you where you hope to be someday, or what you want to do after you graduate, you don't answer selfishly. One person cannot change anything, sorcerer or not." He lifted his hand and gestured. "Look around you. Do you honestly expect that you alone can stand out in a crowd of this manitude?" Some people shook their heads. I stayed silent. My right hand clutched in a fist against my heart tightened.

            _Keep safe._

"The odds are that you will not be in the Top Ten, or even in the top fifty." The instructor began pacing down the middle of the room again, his aura once more helping his voice carry to everyone in the room. "The only way you will succeed is if you work as a team. In one hundred and four trainee classes, not a single individual landed a spot in the Top Ten on their own. They worked together with their comrades to achieve greatness. Everything you do here will test you as an individual, will force you to grow and struggle. That's something life would make you do eventually, anyways.

            "Your experiences at the Academy only channel you to grow and struggle in specific ways. But if you don't work as a group, you will fail. Growth on your own can only help so much. A Healer will never be good at Witchcraft, just like a Witch will never be good at healing. Most of your important exams will be executed as team efforts. You will be separated into groups, and sometimes your job will be to succeed at something none of you are good at. A team of Healers and Warlocks assigned to produce a Vision. A Seer and a Witch assigned to cast white magic. An Apothecary and a Wizard assigned to Convince. Individually, you all would fail miserably at attempting these things.

            "That is why you are assigned as a team. Combined magic is powerful. The gates of Jokaku were created and reinforced one hundred years ago by combined magic, as were the Capitol gates and castles. And, as I'm sure a good number of you also know, combined magic destroyed Shiganshina, reinforced gates and all." He reached the other end of the hall, by the doors, and turned again to face us. "Those who work the hardest in their groups will score the highest. You will need to excel academically and in physical training, but only those who take their individual potential and contribute it in their group efforts will receive high marks and place in the top rankings.

            "Tomorrow, you will receive your schedules. If you have no clue what kind of magic you have, you're probably really dense and won't last a month, but your schedules list your magic specialty. You'll find those in your quarters once you arrive there. Girls dorms are to the right, boys to the left. Your names are on your rooms. I suggest you memorize your schedules, because you're not going to have time to pull them out and ask for directions tomorrow. That's all. Do not be late to Drill class, or I will personally see to it that you are kicked out of the Academy within the week. I am Instructor Shadis. I will not repeat anything I've said, so if you weren't listening, you're just out of luck. Welcome to the Academy. You're all good enough to be here, but that doesn't mean you should act like it. Give us attitude and you will receive your due in kind."

            With his speech finished abruptly, Instructor Shadis turned, yanked the doors opened, and sent a stream of his golden aura into the doors so that when he slammed them closed behind him, the sound reverberated thunderously.

 

* * *

 

            The dorm rooms were pretty bare. Two bunk beds per room, two nightstands for two people to share, a connecting room for two other people to share the suite with, a bathroom at the end of the hall for all people on the floor to share, and a communal shower in the basement for all the people in the building to share.

            Hate was such a strong word, but I _hated_ sharing. With every fiber of my being. _Nobody_ shared in Dauper. If you wanted something, you had to earn it, either with cash or a trade of equal value. Even children had to do their part if they wanted some dinner. It was something I was used to.

            So sharing a room with someone other than my family was not exactly something I was excited about. And sharing a suite with _three other girls?_

I was _not_ looking forward to it.

            I was just about finished putting my few belongings beneath my bed when the door opened, and my roommate walked in.

            "Oh!"

            Christa's eyes lit up, her aura flaring a dazzling, clear gold for just a moment as I grinned at her.

            "I'm so happy! I can't believe this!" I said, standing and offering my hand to help Christa unpack. The blonde girl happily obliged, handing me her backpack while she herself headed to her new bed, suitcase in her free hand. Christa placed it gently beneath her bed, then turned to face me.

            "I'm happy to be rooming with you, Sasha," she said in a soft, but sincere, voice. My smile broadened. Christa was a nice girl, and her aura, while murky, held nothing overly ominous to it.

            _If it's Christa, I think I'll be okay,_ I thought to herself. _She's not likely to pry._

            "Uhm, the pack only has clothing," Christa told her. "Would you mind...?" She trailed off, but I understood.

            "Absolutely no problem at all!"

            Together, we placed Christa's belongings in the drawers and closet, organizing them neatly (as per Christa's suggestion; I would have just thrown them all into the nearest drawer). The room looked much more lively with Christa's homey touches here and there: a hand mirror on Christa's nightstand, parchment and quills, a rug, and even a large lamp. I had no idea how Christa had packed a full-length lamp into her tiny pack, but Christa had shrugged and mumbled something about subspace spells, so I just let it go.

            "So did you see our other roommates yet?" I asked. Christa nodded.

            "I came in with one of them. Her name is Annie." Christa shook her head, smiling. "She's very quiet. I couldn't start up a conversation with her. Not for lack of _trying_ , but, well." She shrugged dismissively. "Some people just don't like to talk, after all."

            "Annie. Huh." I made a mental note to remember the name.

            "We should go see if the other girl has arrived yet!" Christa said. I barely contained a groan. I honestly didn't mind Christa's peppiness, but after all the unpacking and walking I'd done today, I simply wanted to rest, eat a good meal or two, and enjoy my final day before intense Academy classes began.

            "Oh," I said hesitantly. "I was wondering if we could perhaps go eat?" I managed to keep from tacking on an "or something" at the end. It wouldn't do to let my country bumpkin-ness show. Especially not in front of Christa, whose observant nature would make her pick up on it easily.

            _If she hasn't already,_ my mind pointed out.

            "Oh," Christa said, eyes widening. She glanced out the window. "I suppose it _is_ lunch time, after all." She turned her bright blue eyes back to me. "In that case, let's invite them to come eat with us!"

            I shrugged, putting on a smile and nodding. At least we were gonna go eat something. It was as close to a victory as I was gonna get. My stomach was beginning to protest the early demise of her doughnut, anyway.

            Encouraged by my smile, Christa floated into the shared suite area and knocked on their suitemate's door.

            "It's Christa!" the blonde called. "I was wondering if--"

            She was cut off by the door being opened. Another girl -- blonde, and slightly taller than Christa -- looked out at us. Her aura was a murky blue. Maybe the murkiness was a trait of those who were still untrained? After all, Christa's was just as murky, like trying to squint into the dark to catch glimpses of color. It was different from Jean's duller tones. His gold was still visible. Christa's and this girl's though... They were different. Still, I could recognize that familiar blue anywhere.

            This girl was a Wizard.

            I waved.

            "Hello!" I said pleasantly. "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Sasha Braus."

            "She's my roommate," Christa said. "Sasha, meet Annie... uhm..." Christa looked down, embarrassed, and peeked up at Annie through her bangs. "Wh-What was your last name again? Sorry..."

            "Leonhart." Annie turned around, and Christa and I took the opportunity to amble in after her. "It's fine. It's not a... Common last name."

            "Neither is mine," Christa said dismissively. "Don't worry about it. It was my fault for not remembering."

            Annie grunted, walking back to her bed and flopping onto it ungracefully.

            I nearly flinched.

            _Well, not everyone here is gonna be royalty,_ I thought. My eyes quickly took in the dorm room: sparsely decorated, with only a lamp and a few quills and parchment arranged neatly on both desks. No lamps, no mirrors, no rugs.

            My eyes trailed over to the body sitting still on the other bed. Black hair, a bright red scarf wrapped around her neck, dark brown eyes trained curiously on me.

            It was the girl from earlier. The one with the purple aura. The one who had been with the boy--

            _Not thinking about it, not thinking about it, stopthinkingaboutit stopthinkingaboutitstopthinkingabou--_

Christa cut off my internal chanting.

            "Oh, I don't believe we've been introduced!" Christa smiled at the girl. "My name is Christa Lenz. This is Sasha Braus." She turned her gaze expectantly on the raven-haired girl.

            Finally, I felt myself relax as the girl's curious brown gaze turned to Christa.

            "Mikasa Ackerman." Her eyes shifted again to me, and I ducked my eyes. "It's nice to meet the both of you."

            "You too, Mikasa," I managed. I glanced back up. Her aura was purple, a little less brilliant without the dawn's glow behind her now, but still vibrant. Not murky at all.

            I pursed my lips, then quickly stopped.

            "We were about to head down for some lunch," Christa said. "Would either of you care to join us?"

            "I don't mind," Mikasa said. She hesitated, then continued. "Well, actually, I might wait a bit. I'm... Probably going to eat with my brother."

            Christa and I shared a look. A brother? My eyes went to her aura. I hadn't seen another purple aura throughout the entire room, and I'd looked for them, believe you me. Which meant her brother had a different color.

            "I'd love to meet him, if he's down there," Christa said, smiling brightly. She turned to Annie, awaiting her response.

            The slightly-taller-blonde huffed.

            "I'm not joining you, sorry," she said, a bit stiffly. "I'm... Meeting up with some friends. Now, actually." She stood abruptly, and Christa and I barely managed to step aside in time as she plowed her way to the suite door, opened it, and left without another word. The door creaked closed behind her.

            "Well." I laughed, trying to diffuse the awkward silence that followed. "Maybe she's meeting up with a boyfriend or something?"

            Christa smiled, quickly latching onto something to ease the tension.

            "Maybe, yeah!" She turned to Mikasa. "So, I guess we'll see you down there?"

            Mikasa nodded.

            "All right."

            A booming laugh echoed to us from across the hall. We heard a few giggles and squeals, and I recognized Mina's voice. Christa did, too, apparently, because she turned immediately, interest piqued, towards the doorway.

            "Well, I think I'll go greet our neighbors across the way," she said brightly. "Sasha, are you going to join me?"

            "Yup!" I turned on my heel.

            "Wait."

            I stopped.

            "Hmm?" I asked, turning around and putting on my brightest, fakest smile. My heart began to pound quickly as Mikasa's brown eyes met mine.

            "I was wondering if I could speak to you?"

            Christa glanced between us.

            "I'll be right across the way," she told me. "Hurry and join me!" She skipped out of the room.

            Mikasa waited until the door clicked closed behind her before speaking.

            "You have a purple aura."

            I let my eyes go wide.

            "Really?" I asked, putting as much excitement behind it as possible. Internally, though, I was panicking.

            _Keep safe Keep safe Keep safe Keep safe Keep safe Keep safe Keep--_

"Well, it _looks_ mostly purple, anyways." Mikasa slid off her bed, landing gracefully and nearly without a sound. She took two steps forward towards me. "So you're like me, then."

            "Uh, I-I-I don't--"

            _KeepsafeKeepsafeKeepsafeKeepsafeKeepsafeKeepsafeKeepsa--_

            "You're a Seer." Mikasa's stepped forward again, and I had to fight the urge to turn tail and bolt right out of there.

            "Y-Yes, I am, I--"

            "So then," Mikasa asked, and I felt the blood drain from my face. "Why do you have _blue_ sparks?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My little sister had to read "Poison" by Bridget Zinn, and naturally, she made me read it, too. I was quite fascinated by the author's interpretation of potion making. I'm considering incorporating a few bits into this fic. Not sure yet, though. We'll see. 
> 
> On a side note, I have most of this story already planned out, so all that's left is to write it and tie the pieces together.


	3. Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikasa and Sasha strike up a deal. And maybe teamwork isn't such a bad thing after all...

            I was speechless. Perhaps panicked might have been a better term. Either way, inside, I was freaking _out._ How had she noticed? I'd done my best all day to keep my aura in check! Even in here, I thought I had complete control over the sparks. If some had gotten loose without my knowledge, what else could I have revealed that might have been noticed by someone with a keener eye than a new cadet's?

            _So much for keeping safe._

            Mikasa continued speaking, thankfully, and didn't seem to take my silence as something suspicious.

            "I take it you're a double affinity?"

            Again, I didn't answer.

            Mikasa sighed.

            "Look, I know it's not the easiest thing to admit, or acknowledge, but... My bro--"

            _"Please don't tell anyone!"_

            The words were out of my mouth before I could fully process whether I should blurt them out or not. Mikasa frowned.

            "Why not?" she asked.

            "Just... I..." I floundered for a moment, trying to form a decent excuse. "B-Back in Dauper, it's a, well, uh, rare, uh, a-a-and--"

            "It's not rare," Mikasa said. "At least a quarter of our class has a double affinity." Her eyes narrowed. "How did you not notice?"

            I gulped. To be fair, I hadn't wanted to notice auras much after seeing the boy's.

            But, wait...

            Two auras were... _Natural?_ So my bad attempt at placating myself after seeing the boy's aura had been _right?_

"W-Wait," I said softly, reaching behind me and gripping the edge of Annie's desk to hold myself steady. All thoughts of poise and ladylike manners were long gone from my mind. I spoke carefully. "So... d-double affinities... They're normal?"

            Mikasa nodded.

            "Dauper... Dauper _Village?"_ she asked. I nodded weakly. "The rustic town that's near the mountains?"

            "Not rustic," I blurted out on habit. "B-But yeah, that's the one," I said. My mind managed to string together a plan, and I launched into it, hoping it would hold. Treading water any longer could become suspicious. "Back in Dauper, two auras is... I-Is a curse."

            It wasn't _entirely_ a lie, after all.

            Mikasa let out a "hmm" as she turned to her desk. She grabbed a quill and touched the tip -- ink dribbled from her fingertips. I gasped.

            She had just created ink. With magic.

            Mikasa removed her finger -- which was, miraculously, not ink-stained _despite_ _being the source of the ink_ \-- and began scribbling something down on the parchment on her desk.

            _What spell was that?_ My mind was already sorting through my knowledge of magic to try and place the type of sorcery. It obviously was a white magic of some sort, since it created ink, but--

            "Well, they're wrong," Mikasa said, snapping me back to the present. "It's natural. Not... _Normal,_ but it happens frequently." She passed the parchment to me; I took it, glancing down to see the Circle of Sorcery drawn on it. "You know what that is, right?"

            "Yes," I said.

            "Some people are born with two affinities," she said. "Meaning they have two sources of magic, not just one."

            "Two sources..." I pursed my lips.

            "But yours isn't normal."

            I flinched, glancing back up at her.

            "You think so, huh?" I asked, doing my best to sound skeptical. Judging by the look on Mikasa's face, though, I probably just sounded feeble.

            "You can actually _see_ two distinct auras. They swirl and shift around the sorcerer, but they _don't mix._ " She looked me squarely in the eye. "Which is exactly what _yours_ are doing. Your aura's not pure purple. It's more of a violet color -- it's bluer than my aura is."

            "I don't know what to tell ya," I said. I closed my eyes, took a breath to steady myself, and continued. "Like I said, it's a curse in Dauper."

            "Hmm." Mikasa stood. "It doesn't bother me, in any case."

            I looked up, startled. I started to ask why she'd bothered with all of this, but held my tongue. There was no need to draw any more attention to myself.

            "On one condition."

            I pursed my lips and closed my eyes again for a second, then re-opened them. Mikasa stood with her hand on the door to the hallway, her black hair flipping neatly around her as she turned her head quickly towards me.

            "I won't tell anyone about your aura," she said, "If you don't tell anyone about my brother's."

            I nodded. I had to do whatever it took.

            _Keep safe._

"Who is he?" I asked. "I won't spill. Cross my heart and hope to die."

            Mikasa looked at me for a few moments, probably to take in my aura's sincerity.

            "His name is Eren," she said finally. "He has a blue and silver aura. Double affinity, like you. His is special, also. Not in the same way, but..." She paused. "Don't tell anyone about the silver. He's a Wizard. Not... Whatever the silver is."

            _The boy with the green eyes._

            He was Mikasa's brother?

            I nodded.

            "I won't." Mikasa nodded, and a small smile crept onto her lips. her left hand creeped up to fiddle with her scarf.

            I took this as a grand opportunity to change the topic.

            "There sure isn't a whole lot of sibling resemblance in the family, huh?" I asked teasingly.

            Mikasa's smile grew.

            "That's because we're only siblings by name, not blood." She chuckled. "Not even by name, actually."

            "Oh." I decided not to pry. I didn't want to risk it backfiring by her expecting me to answer any more questions.  "I see."

            Mikasa's smile grew soft again.

            "See you," she said. "And... Thank you for understanding." Her eyes met mine, sincerity glowing in them, her aura still and serene around her.

            Then she turned the knob on the door and stepped out of the suite, red scarf fluttering behind her, leaving me to wonder, as the door creaked closed, what the hell had just happened.

 

* * *

 

 

            "Sasha's a Seer!"

            I nearly choked on my bread, but managed to recover quickly. I shot Connie a brief savage look before grinning sunnily.

            "Indeed I am."

            The rest of our group gasped and uttered other sounds of surprise. Jean, Mina, Connie, Thomas and I sat together at a lengthy wooden table, finishing up our food. Christa had spoken to the girls across the way, and had managed to convince one of Mina's suitemates to join us. Her name was Ymir. As soon as she'd introduced herself, I'd recognized her voice as the loud, booming one we'd heard earlier. Her aura was as murky as Christa's, and also gold. I wondered yet again what could possibly cause such a distortion of their auras.

            "No way!" Jean exclaimed, leaning forward. His honey-colored eyes glowed with excitement. "So wait, you see magic and stuff?"

            I nodded.

            "It's nothing special, to be disappointingly frank," I told them. "I think it's a rather distasteful branch of sorcery, personally."

            "But still," Mina replied. "I mean, you can _see_ it! Magic, I mean! And visions, and all sorts of things! Including other people's emotions!"

            "What did it look like, when you came through the castle gates?" Thomas asked.

            I frowned internally. Why were they so _curious?_

"Like... Magic," I said simply. "Just strings of magic."

            "It felt like I was running my hands along threads when I came in," Jean said. "So it actually looks like threads, too?"

            "In this case," I said, speaking carefully, "It looked more like... A vibrant tapestry."

            Jean let out a loud whistle that turned a few heads. "Neat." A few of the others nodded.

            The praise did light a small, warm fire in my heart, but all it took was a glance to my right to snuff it out.

            Mikasa was sitting further down the length of the table, along with the blonde boy and brunet -- her brother.

            I sighed.

            "Not as much as you'd think," I muttered mostly to myself.

            "Okay, so you see auras, too, right?" Jean asked. "What's mine look like?"

            I glanced up at him.

            "Uh... Yellow. A golden yellow. Warlocks have that sort of aura."

            Jean's eyes widened.

            "I'm a Warlock?" he asked. I nodded. He grinned widely. "That's... Whoa!" He laughed. "That's awesome!"

            "Sasha, how about me?" Connie asked.

            I shifted uncomfortably. This was drawing the attention of a few others around us. The last thing I wanted was any more unwanted questions about my powers.

            "Uhm, green. Witch."

            Connie nodded, grinning.

            "Yeah, that's what my examiner said."

            Thomas raised his eyebrows. "How about me?"

            "Brown. Healer. I think about a quarter of the trainees are Healers, though on the streets I'm sure over half the folks you'd cross paths with are Healers. You and Mina have brown auras."

            Mina nodded.

            "I've been training since I was little," she said. "My grandmother is a Healer, so she taught me what she knew."

            "How about Christa?" Ymir asked. I licked my lips.

            Christa came to my rescue.

            "That's enough questions, everyone!" She frowned, seeming to glare over at Ymir. "Can't you tell she's uncomfortable talking about it?" She cast her eyes downward. "Not everyone likes what they were born as."

            "Oh, come on, how could you _not_ like being a Seer?" Jean said, leaning back. "It's better than being a Wizard, in my opinion." He rolled his eyes. "They're a dime a dozen, and way overrated. I bet half the class is Wizards."

            "Are," Christa corrected him. "And the ones who're here passed their examinations! They're not just your average Wizard off the streets." She nodded. "You should give them a chance."

            "If what Shadis said is true, then we're gonna have to work with pretty much every other sorcerer type out there," added Connie.

            "You're right, I guess," Jean said. "Still, I'm not a big fan of Wizards."

            "Sasha, do you see any Wizards around here?" Mina asked.

            I looked around.

            My eyes immediately found Mikasa's brother.

            He was speaking somewhat passionately again, while the blonde boy looked on with mild concern. It seemed like he and Mikasa were arguing.

            His silver aura flashed, and I pursed my lips.

            "Him," I said, pointing as subtly as I could towards him. "His aura is blue."

            "That guy?" Jean asked, somewhat incredulously. "With his build I woulda thought he was an Apothecary or something else pretty usele--"

            "Apothecaries aren't useless!" Christa scolded.

            "Still, with that haircut, he looks really... _Weak._ Especially with the blonde hair and the blue eyes. Got the same innocent look Christa has. No offense. _"_

"None taken."

            "No, no, the blonde one _is_ an Apothecary. I actually meant the boy _beside_ him," I said.

            "Oh." Jean sucked in a breath _. "Him."_

Christa and I shared a glance. Jean's tone had turned pretty dark.

            "You know him?" Ymir asked.

            "We're suitemates," Jean said. "Let's just say... I'm not a big fan of his attitude." He snorted. "Dude wants to join the Survey Corps."

            The group collectively fell silent for a few moments. Around us, the buzz of conversation and clinking of plates seemed to thicken the suddenly uncomfortable mood until Ymir spoke.

            "Some people have their reasons," she said softly. For just a moment, the haze around her aura seemed to thicken, swirling like stormclouds, before evening out again.

            I pretended not to notice, polishing off my bread instead.

            "Yeah, well, he's just... Ugh." Jean shook his head. "Don't worry about it. He just puts up this tough front that's... Well... Bogus."

            "Well, he's our roommate's brother," Christa said, a little frown on her face. "And you'll probably have to work with him at some point during training, so you need to resolve your differences!"

            Jean had the decency to look sheepish while Ymir snorted beside Christa. Connie cleared his throat loudly, drawing everyone's attention.

            "On a fairly unrelated note," Connie said, "What kind of magic do Witches specialize in?"

            "Are you _serious,_ Connie?" Thomas laughed. "Everyone learns about that kinda stuff in school!"

            "Well," Connie spluttered, "Sometimes country schools are a bit... _lax_ on the whole educating part." he turned to me. "Right, Sasha?"

            I blinked, my mind automatically pulling up one of my earliest school memories: all the children gathered around Granny Ilse's hearth, learning the basics of potion making and memorizing the Circle of Sorcery.

            "Mine was thorough enough," I admitted, not wanting to lie to my new friends. Heavens knew I had enough secrets to keep from them already. "I learned the essentials, at the very least."

            _Except that double affinities exist,_ I thought. My eyes again trailed over to look at Mikasa's brother.

            Connie looked incredulous.

            "You gotta be _kidding_ me," he groaned. "How is it I have the least education when she comes from _Dauper?"_

_"Upper_  Dauper," I corrected hurriedly. "Not to be confused with the lower-class areas of... The village." I coughed. "At any rate, Witch magic is fairly easy to grasp."

            "Kinda like Wizards, only less common," Jean said. He raised his hands when Christa sent him a firm look. "I'm just _saying!_ Besides, they're only alike in being the most common roles, right alongside Healers. They're the staple groups of Sorcerers."

            "Most squads are made up of a Healer, a Wizard, and a Witch," Thomas said. "Though, to be honest, that's just how the textbooks arrange it." He shifted in his seat. "The Survey Corps obviously has to make do with what they've got. I think even the Garrison doesn't have enough of all of them to go around."

            "What about Thaumaturges?" I chimed in. "They're probably about as common as Witches, though it's harder for them to specialize due to... All the elemental magic they have to deal with."

            "Ugh," Connie groaned, slapping his hand dramatically to his forehead. "You guys aren't helping at all!"

            "Why don't you just wait until tomorrow?" Ymir suggested. "Classes will cover the basics before we get into any of the more serious training." Christa shot Ymir a glance, and something passed briefly between them, gold sparks escaping their auras to clash and shatter into small particles that floated away like dust in the sunlight.

            The sight made me flinch, mostly in surprise, but it was enough to draw the both of them back to the present, and the sparks ceased. Still, it threw me for a loop.

            I'd never really seen something like that before.  The closest I could remember was...

            _Focus,_ I chastised myself. I smiled at everyone at the table. _Don't forget: You're here to get a better life within the gates. That's_ all _that matters._

            I moved my hands from the table and placed them in my lap, clenching them tightly together.

            _Keep safe._

            I couldn't afford to let my friends in too much. Friends -- They were _barely_ even that. I'd known them for all of a few hours. It would be much better for me to just openly regard them as competitors, opponents that I had to defeat in order to climb the ranks to make my way into the Top Ten.

            But Shadis' words from this morning reverberated through my memory.

            Teamwork would be crucial.

            I stood, smiling brightly.

            "Anyone care to join me to get seconds?" I asked. Jean stood happily, as did Connie and Ymir, while Christa sighed and waved us off, engaging Mina in conversation over their schedules.

            I didn't have to let my friends know everything about me. But -- I glanced over my shoulder in time to find Mikasa looking up at me, and our eyes met, silently passing our promise back and forth again -- a little bit of mutual cooperation wouldn't hurt anybody, now would it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! \o/ We passed the 100 mark on hits!!! 
> 
> I had toe surgery this week, and I basically have to stay off my foot for the next few days. Meaning I've been sitting in bed marathoning Buffy and rolling around in boredom. So I thought I'd publish this chapter a little early for you guys.
> 
> Chapter 4 will be out by the end of next week. I already started it. \o/ Boredom > Procrastination!!!
> 
> Thanks for reading, and drop a kudos or bookmark if you enjoyed it! :D


	4. Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Potion making isn't exactly what Sasha and friends are expecting... And neither is their teacher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, there's a glimpse into some of the more specific ways magic works in this universe. Specifically, a fuller explanation of the Circle of Sorcery Mikasa mentioned before. (Yes, I didn't forget about it, and no, this isn't all of it. There's a lot more complex ways magic works in this AU, but I'm trying to give myself a few chapters to lay out a solid foundation before delving into the more complex workings.)

            Clinking glasses and liquids boiling over crackling flames. Pungent fumes and muttered spells and pitch-black dungeons.  The crinkling of dried horehound and the slimy squirming of charmed slugs. Cauldrons and voodoo and spellbooks.

            I'd expected so much from Granny Ilse's horrifying tales of potion making.

            But when I arrived at my potions class the next morning, I found none of those things.

            Well, besides the horehound, but even those weren't dried. In fact, the entire room was basically a giant greenhouse, except without the glass. Magic sustained the plant life here, each green life gently draped in delicate red and brown threads. Above, blue magic encompassed the roof, providing artificial glamour light for the plants to thrive under.

            Beside me, Connie raised an eyebrow.

            "Sure we're in the right class?" he asked. I pursed my lips, saying nothing. "Because this is _not_ what I thought potions class would be like."

            "It's okay," Christa said from my left. She had sidled up to stand beside me. Other students were still filing in, and I realized with a frown that I didn't see a single Wizard or Thaumaturge type in the room. No blue or orange in sight, aside from some of the plants.

            I couldn't help but wonder why.

            "Excuse me, is this Potions Class?"

            The three of us turned to face a muscular blonde boy. He was all sharp angles, from his brows to his almost-smirk as his eyes scanned us. Like the rest of our trainees, he wore the standard outfit, and it looked like he's recently pressed his white blouse beneath the jacket. It was crisp and wrinkle-free.

            "That's what we were wondering," Connie replied, almost in a grumble. "Sure doesn't look like it, does it?"

            The blonde boy's grin broadened.

            "Nah, it really doesn't." He looked over the room again. His aura seemed to ripple, something I knew meant he was thinking about something in the past. "Not at all like what I'd expected."

            "I don't think it's what any of us expected, to be honest," Christa said. She smiled softly at him, for all the world looking like an angel surrounded by her golden aura. "But since everyone's here, I doubt we're all wrong."

            The blonde nodded.

            "You're probably right about that," he said.

            "I'm still unconvinced," Connie said.

            "The nonbeliever is Connie," I said at last, sending a grin his way. "My name is Sasha. Pleasure to meet you."

            The blonde nodded as Connie made a snarky comment.

            "My name is Reiner." He grinned down at Christa. "And your name is, pretty lady?"

            Christa blushed, looking own at her feet nervously.

            "Ah... Hi-Ah, Christa." She bit her lip. "Nice to meet you."

            "You, too, Christa." Reiner smiled gently down at her. It looked a little out of place on his face, that gentle look.

            "Hey," I started, "So wha--"

            Before I could ask where he hailed from in Jokaku, we were interrupted by the sound of someone clapping from the doorway, drawing our attention.

            "Hi!" A woman with brown hair tied in a ponytail and goggles strapped to her head grinned widely at us, her brown eyes twinkling and red aura sparking with what could only be excitement. "Nice to meet you all! I'm Hanji Zoe, your instructor for Potions!"

            Connie took in a quick breath, and I shot him a curious glance.

            "Survey Corps Squad Leader," he mumbled loudly enough for our immediate group of friends to hear. "She's a genius, from what I've heard."

            "And you said your rustic background gave you no good information," I mumbled back, eyes again going to our instructor.

            "I didn't hear it from home. It's called asking around town."

            "There's no need to be afraid!" said Instructor Zoe. "I know your first day can seem scary, and that's why I'm here if you need to talk to someone!" She laughed, loud and full, throwing her head back. "Just not during class, okay?"

            Her eyes swept across the room. "There's no need to put off the lesson any longer. Let's get straight to it!" She skipped -- yes, _skipped!_ \-- across the room to the horehound, running a finger almost lovingly across a leaf before whipping around to face us again. "Who can tell me what this plant is?"

            After a moment's hesitation, a few hands went up. I began to lift mine as well, but then thought better of it. It would be unwise to appear too intelligent right now, lest some of my classmates become suspicious or wary of me. The last thing I needed was to be thought of as overly bright. That wouldn't help me fit in at all.

            "You!" Hanji pointed at someone in the back of the greenhouse. My eyes followed her finger and landed on the scrawny blonde boy who Mikasa and her brother hung out with. My eyebrows lifted. I hadn't noticed him come in before. It must have happened when we were talking to Reiner; I hadn't glanced around after the momentary distraction. He had a darker red aura than Hanji's bright red.

            Still, it was red, meaning he was an Apothecary.

            "Horehound is a plant that has many uses," he said. He had a high, airy tenor voice. "It's most often used as an ingredient for Witchcraft-enhanced potions, such as a Poison."

            Instructor Zoe clapped excitedly.

            "Bingo!" she said. "What's your name, young man?"

            The boy pursed his lips, clearly uncomfortable with the attention on him.

            "Armin Arlert, ma'am."

            Instructor Zoe clapped again.

            "Bravo, Armin!" she said. "You're absolutely right. Horehound is a plant used in potions, most often in Witch potions. Can anyone tell me what else horehound is used in?"

            Fewer hands went up.

            "Hmm... You!" Instructor Hanji pointed to someone in the front. "Why don't you introduce yourself first, though!"

            "Ah." The boy nodded. I recognized him from his stance even before he spoke. "I'm Marco Bott." He saluted, then relaxed his posture. "Horehound is often used in Healing potions as well, as a pain elixir."

            "Correct!" Instructor Hanji sing-songed. "So formal, too, I respect that! What a gentleman, Mr. Bott!" She plucked some of the horehound from the pot, waving the stem and attached leaves in front of her."Horehound is used as a pain reliever and, more rarely, as a sedative. That's because the oils on its leaves have anti-flammatory properties. Commoners use it to soothe sore throats." She plucked a leaf off the plant. "Of course, Sorcerers can make it much more powerful. In a Witch's case, it can be turned into something very potent." She waved the rest of the plant like a flag. "Anyone know why that is?"

            Reiner's hand went up quickly. Instructor Zoe pointed the plant in his direction.

            "Witchcraft is the opposite of Wizardry," he said. "Simplistically, a Wizard's magic allows them to create. A Witch's magic allows them to destroy." He nodded to the horehound. "They're basically opposites. A Wizard could enhance the plant's properties. So it could be used for something greater, like in a surgery to bring down an amputee's inflammation and bleeding. But a Witch reverses those properties. Instead of bringing inflammation down, it agitates it."

            "Right on!" Instructor Hanji tossed the leaf she'd plucked off the plant into the air above her. "You're Reiner, right? Good explanation." With a flick of her finger, her bright red aura shot out to envelope the leaf. It sizzled, then separated: the leaf, the oil, and traces of blue magic were caught inside her red aura above her. "To put it in more theoretical terms, Sorcery is complicated. Most of you probably learned of the Circle of Sorcery as children: Witch beats Healer, Healer beats Thaumaturge, Thaumaturge beats Seer, Seer beats Apothecary, Apothecary beats Warlock, Warlock beats Wizard. For the most part, the Circle of Sorcery is correct. After all, if you go in reverse order, you'll see the Circle of Inability, or what type of magic a Sorcerer type can't access. For instance, a Warlock can't use Separative magic, a subset of Apothecary magic, like what I'm doing right now.

            "But in many ways, it lacks finer details." Instructor Hanji shifted her hand in a circle, and the traces of Blue magic flew around the room, grazing our heads and making us shiver upon its contact. "For instance, the fact that all things on this planet have trace amounts of magic in them. Magic is not solely for the gifted. Every rock, plant, creature, and star in the sky contains some amount of magic in it. Horehound has Healing magic in it, which is contained in the coat of oil encasing its exterior, but it also has Wizard magic in it, from inside the plant itself.

            "Some theorists believe that long ago, an Archmage instilled magic into everything on the planet. I don't believe it, but hey, whatever floats your boat." Instructor Zoe reunited the plants parts, then released it, catching it by the stem. "Either way, there are some things the Circle of Sorcery misses. Like the fact that Wizards and Witches are considered opposites, even though the Circle of Sorcery defines Wizards as more powerful. It's far from the truth, actually." She shook the plant at us. "One way or another, there's a lot more than the Circle of Sorcery involved in Potion Making. You have to take the trace amounts of magic in your ingredients into account, along with what kind of Sorcerers will most likely be using your Potion. You wouldn't want to lace a Witch's Poison with the leaves from a Horehound. Giving them Wizard magic is a bad idea. You'd use the oil, the part with Healing magic. Witches can use Healing magic just fine."

            Instructor Zoe placed the stem back into the pot, reaching inside her green cloak and pulling out a bottle. She uncorked it and poured a tiny amount of powder onto the plant: it immediately perked up, growing at an alarming rate right before our eyes, its roots cracking through the bottom of the pot it had been in.

            "Trust me when I tell you guys that enhanced Potions are powerful," she said, re-corking the bottle and tossing it at Marco, who caught it. "Go ahead and pass that around, Marco. Don't uncork it, though, especially if you're a Witch, or you'll get a bad case of boils!" Instructor Zoe stepped to her right, running her hand along a cactus' spines delicately. "I'm going to assign you guys some reading homework. I know, I know, _boring,_ but very necessary! We can't get to actual brewing until I'm confident we won't have any accidents." She shrugged. "You might have learned basics in school, but this is Potion-making. It's a lot more complex than anything you've done before, mostly because there are so many ingredients and so many factors involved. It's a science, technically, but it's also an art.

             She grinned brightly at us. "Also, I'm going to separate you into groups before you leave today! Based on your results from your entrance examinations, I've sorted you both by intelligence and your team compatibility. You'll hopefully make up for each other's weaknesses. Now, moving on, who can tell me what Devil's Snare is used in?"

            Class continued like that for some time, with Instructor Zoe asking about certain plants around the greenhouse. Eventually, Potions class neared its ending time, and about five minutes before release time, Instructor Zoe announced group assignments.

            "I'm totally not doing this alphabetically, sorry about that!" she laughed. "I took the time to memorize your faces included in your applications, so I'm gonna give it a shot and just call you out as I see you! Sorry if I mess up a name pronunciation or something, just let me know." She grinned. "Let's start with Marco! You'll be working with Reiner Braun. I think that's him... Oh, where was he earlier...?" She squinted, then her eyes widened. "There! Right back there, beside Sasha and Christa!"

            Reiner grinned, waving at Marco, who pleasantly waved back.

            "Ooh, and while I'm at it, Connie Springer, you'll be paired with Franz here!" She indicated the young Healer beside Marco who'd answered a question about Willow bark. "Nothing quite like some good Healer-Witch pairs. Some of the famous potions masters we'll be reading about were Healer-Witch teams. Extaordinary, what that team type is capable of."

            A few others were sorted (mostly Healer-Witch pairs), and then Christa was paired with Nack Tius, an Apothecary. Then Instructor Zoe's eyes landed on me.

            "Oh, Sasha! Right, the rare case. Yes, before I forget!" She spread her arms wide. "What's a better pair than Healers and Witches? A Seer and an Apothecary, of course!" She pointed her finger. "I don't think I need to say your partner's name, now do I?" she asked. "You can see it. He's the only Apothecary left, after all!"

            My brown eyes met Armin Arlert's blue ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woohoo, an update! \o/ As promised! And yay, little Armin joins the show~! 
> 
> As in most fics, Armin's going to play an important role, so look out for that. :D Thanks for reading, and drop a kudos or bookmark if you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not quite sure what inspired me to write this. I just know I really wanted a Springles magic AU. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks for reading!


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